Summer Lessons
by PinkBlonde222
Summary: AU: It is the summer before college for Lucy, and she is going through a rough break-up with her boyfriend, Sting. Just when she thinks things couldn't get worse, she meets her new neighbor. This will be a summer to remember. Warning: Contains some adult themes, such as underage drinking and strong language. No explicit lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So, this is my first fan fiction. Please don't let that discourage you from reading because I need your help! I'm still getting used to how this site works with uploading and all that, so I may need to come back and reformat, etc. This is an AU, so some of the characters may be OC because I feel in the real world some of their personalities would have to be a little more subdued, but I love these characters so much! Please let me know what you think! As I mentioned in my profile, I have a very stressful job, so updating may be hard for me. I'm really sorry, and I promise I will work hard on it!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters.

 **Chapter 1**

Lucy blew on her coffee before taking a small sip. She winced as it still burned her tongue a bit. She looked up as the door in front of her opened again, letting in a gust of hot, humid air into the coffee shop. It was the middle of the summer, and she had ordered a hot beverage. She knew it was strange, but there was something about iced coffee she couldn't get behind. Coffee was meant to be hot, not served with ice cubes. She sighed as she watched the sunburned man walk up to the counter and relaxed back down in her seat. It wasn't him.

She was meeting her boyfriend, Sting to have "The Talk." They had been dating since their freshman year of high school, and it was now the summer before their freshman year of college. Four years was a long time, too long, if you asked some. Lucy had met Sting when they were in the same English class, and she had fallen head over heels for him when she looked into his deep blue eyes. Every thing about Sting screamed sexy; everything from his messy blonde hair, to his sea blue eyes, all the way down to his toned abs. He was also on swim team and baseball team, making him one of the most popular guys at her school. His swim time was so fast, people had started calling him "The White Dragon" because all you could see was his light blonde hair streaking through the water.

Lucy couldn't believe she had had the fortune of picking up his dropped pencil that day in class. They had been a couple ever since. Sure, the other girls sometimes gave her a hard time about having such a good looking boyfriend, but Lucy knew they were just jealous. Sting was a sweet guy and a great boyfriend. At least he had been. Something changed last year. Last year, Sting was made captain of the swim team, and if she thought they were popular as a couple before, she was wrong. Their status skyrocketed. They were invited to every party, every lunch table, and every study group. It had taken an emotional toll on Lucy. She knew these people were not really her friends. She could hear the gossip and convoluted insults said behind her back, but Sting loved it. He thrived from it. He had become the center of attention at Fairy Tail High. If he was king, she was queen, and she was starting to hear some things about "her king" that disturbed her. He was going to parties without her, and hanging out with people, girls in particular, that she did not know from Sabertooth High.

Don't misinterpret, Lucy knew Sting was his own person and could do and go where he wanted, but he had stopped calling her and texting her. An update from her boyfriend every now and again would be nice, which is why they were meeting at the coffee shop. Lucy sighed again. She did not know if they were going to break up, go back to being friends, or smooth all this over and have great make-up sex later. Since things had changed between them, she really did not know what to expect from Sting anymore. Lucy began to tap her foot as she glanced at her phone. He was fifteen minutes late. Not a promising start to a conversation about communication.

The door opened again and there he stood, in all his glory. He was wearing an orange shirt, which showed off his amazing tan from being out at the pool. He ran a hand through his blonde locks as he glanced around the room, giving his hair a sexy, disheveled look. He eyes widened and he smiled as he met her eyes in recognition. Lucy gave her head a small shake to clear her mind and tried to remember why she was here. Sting's charm was not going to work on her. They needed to talk. Sting walked over and pulled out the chair across from her without ordering anything. He obviously thought this meeting was going to be short. Good sign or bad?

"Hey," he said, still smiling at her. "Where were you last night? I thought we were going to meet up at Cana's end of year party. You missed on hell of a night." Lucy suddenly was having no trouble remembering why they were here.

"I texted you and told you I couldn't go. My dad came back from his business trip last night and I needed to have dinner with him. I invited you to come over and eat with us, but you never texted or called me back." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, making her body language clear that she was not happy with him. To her surprise, Sting's smile did not falter.

"Yeah, I may have been a few drinks in at that point. I seem to recall a message from you now that I think about it…" Lucy snorted. Of course he had been drinking. This was another change that had happened in the last year. Lucy had had the occasional beer at a party, but Sting took drinking to a whole other level. She had tried talking to him about it, but he only told her that was what people expected of a jock like him and he had a reputation to uphold. The first time Sting had gotten drunk at a party, he had driven them there and she had to find them a ride home since his car was a stick shift and she only knew how to drive an automatic. It had been one of the most embarrassing nights of her life. He promised her it would never happen again, but that was when Lucy started to go to fewer and fewer parties, and when she did, she met him there and drove herself.

"Well, Sting, I'm wondering how much you think of me if you can't be bothered to call or text me. It's happening more and more, and there are some nights I wonder if you made it home at all, or if you are lying in a ditch!" Lucy's voice rose up at the last part, her anger bleeding through.

"Wait, this whole conversation is because I forgot to text you 'Goodnight' a few times? Come on, Lucy. Be serious." Lucy scoffed and looked away from her.

"Sting, seriously. I feel like I don't know who you are; who we are. What is going on?" Sting looked back at her. This time it was his turn to sigh.

"I don't know, Lucy. We grew up, we changed."

"But, are you happy now?" Lucy wanted to know. "I mean, in this relationship."

"Well, if I was I don't think I would have slept with that brunette last night." Lucy's heart stopped and her breathing halted. She must have heard that wrong. Did he just admit to cheating on her? In the middle of a coffee shop? This was not real. It was not happening.

"What?!" She managed to squeak. She needed him to repeat what he just said and confirm that she has misheard him.

"Wait, I thought that was why were here. I knew Levy saw. Levy must've told you I got drunk last night and slept with someone else, right?" Sting raised his eyebrows. Lucy still couldn't move. This was all a dream. Some sort of sick and twisted nightmare she was having.

"No. No, she did not tell me that. You did what last night?" Lucy was trying to stay calm. They were in the middle of the coffee shop, in a small town. The moment she lost her composure, they would be the gossip of Magnolia.

Sting ran his hand through his hair again. "Yeah… Lucy. Look, I'm sorry, but it's over. It has been for a while. I thought I could ghost you and you would get the picture, but I'm seeing other people."

Lucy's hand underneath the table was curled up in anger. She gave four years of her life to this self-centered asshole? How many people knew what was going on and didn't tell her? How many of her "friends" had looked the other way as Sting slept around the school? She took a deep breath and tried again to remember their surroundings. _Screw it_ , Lucy thought. With Sting's reputation, they probably already were the talk of the town. She stood up, the chair grinding against the floor behind her. She took her cup of coffee and tossed it in his face. She knew it was very 90's television, but at this moment, she did not give a "flying flip" as her mother used to say. She was pissed, and she wanted him and the world to know it.

"What the hell, Lucy! That's hot!" Sting's face and neck were turning red from where the hot mocha had splashed him.

"Now you know what it feels like to get burned, ass wipe," she replied as she marched out of the coffee shop. Onlookers watched in horror as she slammed the door behind her, fuming. As angry as she was, she had to smile to herself. This would be the story she always told when people looked at her strangely and asked why she ordered hot coffee in the middle of summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I have one more chapter completed, and after chapter 3 it might take me longer to update. Please review and let me know what you think! I can't believe I'm posting my writing on this site with so many talented other people, so I'm super nervous, but here goes!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

 **Chapter 2**

Lucy took a long deep breath and let it out slowly. She was free. Lucy Heartfilia was free. It had been over a year since she had not to have to worry about Sting. Where he was, who he was with, how much was he drinking, how was he getting home, or who he was flirting with. Those days were over. Lucy jumped as her phone started to vibrate against her hip. She did not even need to look at the picture to know who it was. _Shit_. She thought. _Now here comes the inquiry._ Lucy braced herself and slid her finger across the screen to accept the call.

"Hello?"

"Lucy! Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I am the worst friend ever, like the worst! I heard about what happened from Erza, who talked to Mira, who was outside the coffee shop when it happened! I was going to tell you what happened last night, I swear! I was trying to think of how to tell you and I didn't know you were meeting him at the shop today. Oh my gosh, I could have stop this! I am the worst! Lu, please forgive me!" Lucy was tempted to hold the phone away from her ear as her friend rambled on, but she resisted the urge. It was amazing how fast that girl could talk. It must take a lot of lung capacity to speak at her speed, and she was a tiny girl!

"Levy," Lucy breathed into the phone. "Stop. You know you are not the worst friend. You are the best friend. Only a best friend would want to break news like that to somebody in the best way possible. I'll be ok. Yeah, this blows, but this too shall pass." At least, that was what her father always told her when things in her life started to suck.

"Oh Lucy! You are so positive all the time! I don't know what I would be doing if I was in your position! Ok, come over to my house right now. We'll talk and watch movies, just like when we were younger!" Lucy grinned as her friend tried to cheer her up.

"Ok, but later tonight for dinner, and I'm bringing the ice cream."

"Deal! Lucy..." Levy took a deep breath before saying what she said next. "I know it may not feel like it, but you are so much better off without _him._ " Lucy's grin faded and she nodded her head even though her friend couldn't see her.

"Yeah, I know. It still hurts though. I'll see you tonight, Levy." Lucy disconnected the call and slid her phone back into her back pocket. She loved Levy, hell, she was like the sibling she never had, but sometimes she just needed time and space to think. Lucy walked down to the boardwalk and walked down the pier. This was the great thing about living in a coastal town. Sure, the winter was abysmal and bleak, but the summer made it all worth it. Well, if you didn't count the hurricanes of course, but thankfully their little town of Magnolia had been spared quite a few big ones over the past few years.

Lucy looked over the ocean to the horizon. The sea went on and on for what seemed like forever. Some people thought of the ocean as intimidating because of its vastness and size, but it calmed Lucy to know that there were things in the world that were much bigger than her. She let the salt air fill her nose as she set her elbows on the ledge of the pier and let the wind whip her blonde hair around her face. It was a sunny day, and she was glad she remembered to wear her sunblock. Levy made fun of her because she was a local and still wore sunscreen like a tourist, but she was not going to have sunspots when she was thirty! Lucy took her skin care very seriously.

She listened as the waves crashed beneath her feet and she looked down to see surfers running and emerging from out of the water. Lucy squinted her eyes against the sun to make them out a little further down the beach. There were two boys, about her age, laughing on the beach. Correction, one of them was laughing. The other boy looked like he was about to blow a gasket. Suddenly, the laughing turned to yelling as the one boy jumped on top of the other boy. They were fighting! In the middle of the beach! She could hear their curses from where she stood on the pier. The nerve of them! There were families vacationing here! _Damn tourists_ , she grumbled to herself. Lucy took off sprinting down the stairs to reach the boys. Surprisingly, no one had tried to stop them. In fact, two people had pulled out their phones to record them. _Seriously?_

The boy with pink hair had the boy with black hair in a headlock and was attempting to push him on to the ground. Lucy put her hands on her hips and shouted as loud as she could.

"Hey!" The boys continued to pummel each other, not hearing her. She tried again, even louder this time. "Hey, you idiots! Stop fighting on a public beach!" The pinkette was the first to hear her and looked up at her.

"Just one sec, ok?" He winked at her. Lucy fumed. Was he serious? She should whip out her phone right now and call the cops. In fact, her hand was reaching around her waist to do just that, when the two boys suddenly jerked apart.

"That's what you get, dip shit. Don't go insulting my surfing skills? Got it?" The dark haired boy scoffed at the other boy and stood up on his feet.

"Whatever, dumbass. All I was saying was that if you keep getting that close to the pier, you're going to end up as shark food!" He wiped his hair from his eyes and put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, I can't help where the sea takes me. I'm one with the ocean!" Oh brother. Pinkie here was a whack job.

"He's right you know," Lucy interjected, entering the conversation. "Sharks hang out around the pier because of all the bait the fishermen use. You can also get caught on a hook. Surfers are warned to stay away so accidents don't happen." The pink haired boy looked up at her and took his hands down from where they had been cockily placed on his hips.

"Oh," was his only response.

"See! Even the blonde chick knows about that!" The dark haired boy said, clearly exasperated.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Lucy yelled indignantly.

The pink one waved his hand as if to brush off the other boy's comment. "Oh, don't mind Gray. He had a bad experience with a blonde girl. Now he just stays away all blonde girls, no matter how hot they are," he said looking at Lucy. Lucy could feel a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Well, you shouldn't be so stereotypical," she told the boy whose name was apparently Gray. "And you," she turned and pointed a finger to the other boy. "Stay away from the pier. I don't want to see on my newsfeed tonight that some dumb ass tourist got eaten because he's too dense to use common sense. It drives away business for our town!" With that, she walked away as quickly as she could across the hot sand. Damn flip flops made it hard to walk.

"Wait! Stop!" The pink boy called out. She didn't know why, but she did stop. There was something about the way he called to her that made her think maybe the idiot had something interesting to say. She turned back around and saw him jogging towards her. "I'm Natsu by the way." He held out his hand to her. Lucy stared at it. She really did not want to do this. She was just broken up with, (or did she dump him? That would be discussed at length tonight over ice cream) and now some tourist wanted her number. Yeah, right. Every local girl knew that these boys blew in for the summer looking for a summer fling with the girl next door. Lucy had been raised around this. She knew the game. While others her age enjoyed it, Lucy liked to think she had more self-respect than a summer hook-up. And besides, she has Sting, rather _had_ Sting.

Natsu lowered his hand after it became clear she as not going to take it and ran it through his hair instead, chuckling lightly. The motion made his hair disheveled, but not in a Sting kind of way. Sting's look came from an hour in front of a mirror with hair gel. She would know. Natsu's hair was messy from a day at the beach in the water, filled with sea salt and sweat. It looked pretty sexy. Lucy blinked and remembered that he was a tourist, gone in a few week's time.

"I just wanted to correct you, back there," he said. "We're not tourists. My brother and I just moved down here with our mom. We live not to far down the beach really. We're the red house, next to the yellow one with the blue shutters," he told her pointing further down the beach. Lucy felt her jaw drop. She snapped it closed and swallowed hard.

"That yellow one is my house."

Natsu's eyes lit up in excitement.

"That's so cool! We're neighbors!" He glanced back at Gray to see him packing up their stuff. "Hey, I've got to go, but it looks like I'll be seeing you around!" With that, Natsu began to run back over to his brother. It was like that boy only had one speed, and it was fast. Lucy turned and walked away in shock. Boy, it was going to be an interesting summer to say the least.

 **A/N:** I know it is kinda strange I made Gray and Natsu brothers. I love their love/hate relationship in their guild. Even though they are always fighting, they also would never not have the other's back when it comes down to it. (I have finished the manga, and do know what fight you are thinking about if you disagree, but I feel there were extenuating circumstances there.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Sorry, I know this chapter is super short, but I've also finished chapter 4, so I will be uploading that one as well as soon as I have proof-read everything (in my case, like six times). Thank you so much for the 2 reviews and favorite I have gotten so far. I love this community so much, and I always love reading all of the hard work authors post here. So, as I long time reader, and first time author, I give you chapter 3!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. My characters are only based on Hiro Mashima's.

 **Chapter 3**

Brrr! Lucy made her selection quickly and closed the refrigerator door. Choosing ice cream favors was harder than figuring out what to wear in the morning. The choices were endless nowadays. She picked the banana raspberry blast for Levy and picked up a pint of vanilla bean for herself. She didn't see what was so wrong about the classics. She didn't need five different flavors and rainbow colors. All she needed sweet, cool, and creamy. She paid for her ice cream and walked back out into the humid, salt air. The sun had gone down, but the heat had stayed. Lucy pulled at the back of her purple tank top to unstick it from the sweat on her back. Levy's house wasn't too far away, and Lucy had decided to walk. Perk number two about living in a small, coastal town; she could walk just about anywhere. That was really convenient since her father was out of town a lot and she didn't have a car. When she asked for a car over dinner on her sixteenth birthday, her dad had actually laughed at her.

"Lucy," Jude had said as he dropped his fork and knife on his plate and laughed under his breath. "I know you're sixteen now, but I'm not ready to see you behind the wheel. Furthermore, being sixteen does not make you responsible enough. We'll talk about it more when I get home from my business trip." He had then returned to eating his meal like he hadn't just crushed her dream of being. That had been almost two years ago. Somehow her father always managed to change the conversation when she brought it up, and finally, Lucy had just dropped it. Her father was always going to see her as six years old, and nothing she did was going to change that. The freedom to go anywhere she chose eluded her, and Lucy had a feeling it was intentional on her father's part. If she had a car, she would be able to leave and not come back. Even though Lucy knew she would probably never get the chance to do that, it didn't stop her from wondering what it would be like. To get behind the wheel and drive on the highway just to see how far she could go, but instead she walked. She walked everywhere. To school, to the small shopping center in town, the beach, and to her friends' houses. To be honest, she probably owed her dad a thank you. Walking everywhere meant she could have that extra bowl of ice cream or her friend's left over french fries. While she never thought too much about her weight, Lucy did make sure her jeans didn't get too tight in the summer and her bikini still fit in the winter.

Lucy sped up her step a bit as she realized just how hot it was outside. She didn't want to ice cream to melt into a gooey mess before she got to Levy's. Suddenly a car pulled up beside her. One glance had Lucy moaning inside. Why? Why did these things happen to her?

"Hey, Luuucy! What's up? Need a ride?" Lucy grimaced at his voice. Wasn't this over? Didn't this morning's humiliation mean that she didn't have to deal with his shit anymore?

"No, Sting. I'm fine. Go away." Lucy tried to walk even faster.

"Aw, Baby, don't be like that. I decided to forgive you for this morning. Get in." At his last comment, Lucy stopped and turned to look at him, mouth agape for the second time today.

"What? You forgive me? _You_ forgive _me_? You know what? No, this is not my problem anymore. Go fuck yourself, Sting." Lucy would have been shocked at that word coming from her mouth, but she was too humiliated and angry to care that it didn't sound anything like her.

"Tisk, tisk. Such crass and vulgar language, Miss Heartfilia. I would have thought better of your vocabulary." Great, he was laughing at her. Using the vocabulary she taught him for the SAT, no less.

"I don't give a rat's ass what you think anymore about my vocabulary or anything else about me. Leave me alone and do not even think about talking to me again." Lucy glared at him, her brown eyes narrowed down to slits. She was dead serious. She might not have very much power, but she would make his life a living hell in any way she possibly could if he chose to bug her like this.

"Fine, be a bitch. I thought we could have fun together, but I guess I was wrong. Don't come crawling back, Lucy. On second thought, please do. I want to see your face when you beg." Lucy turned back to make another snide comment, but stopped as she saw his face. His once beautiful mouth was twisted into a smirk, and she suddenly felt incredibly sad. Who was this person? This was not the boy who had dropped his pencil in English class and gave her a thousand watt smile as she handed it back to him. This was not the boy she had shyly asked and taken to the Sadie-Hawkins dance in tenth grade. Those butterflies she had felt in her stomach when he kissed her were long gone and had been replaced with a burning ball of fury. Instead of retorting she continued walking away, feeling sorry for him and missing the boy he once was as he hit the gas and sped off into the night, leaving her alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I now understand some of the author's notes people leave about formatting. I thought I uploaded chapter 4 correctly, but it was a mess! Thank you also to Rein Serenity who gave me some feedback about formatting. I tried to implement some of their suggestions for this chapter. As always, thank you so much for reading!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

 **Chapter 4**

"Luuuucccy!"

A high-pitched squeal greeted her at the door as soon as she had knocked. Levy grabbed her into an enormous hug as soon as she stepped into the foyer. Lucy smiled as she leaned into the hug as best she could with her arm holding the bag of ice cream. Levy pulled away suddenly and held Lucy out in front of her.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you what happened. I can only imagine that you thought…" Lucy held up her empty hand to stop what was surely the beginning of another long, Levy apology ramble.

"It's fine. I handled it. I concede, not well, but I handled it." Levy nodded her head in agreement.

"Erza told me all about it. He got what he deserved. Treating our Lucy like that. I gotta say though, Lucy, your temper is going to get you into real trouble one of these days." Lucy shrugged her shoulders. She was a rule follower, until she got really angry. Then her rules and manners went right out the window. Everyone who knew Lucy knew this. When she was five years, she had watched Jackal pick on a little girl half his size on the playground. He would take her lunch, pull her hair, and spill milk in her lap. The poor girl was so meek and quite that she never said anything to the bully. One day, Lucy came out to the playground to see the little girl wearing a cute blue dress with lace trim decorating it.

 _"I like your dress," Lucy told the girl. She put down her sandwich and had looked up at Lucy. When she realized Lucy was talking to her, she smiled._

 _"Thanks. My mom made it for me! It took her a whole month, but she knew I wanted it for picture day, so she worked really hard on it. It swishes with I twirl. Wanna see?" Lucy nodded her head, and the little girl got up and spun around in a circle. The dress did indeed make a smooth, swishing noise as the fabric spun around on itself. The girls giggled._

 _"Do you want to eat lunch with me?" The tiny girl asked in a quivering voice. Lucy knew the girl must have been scared in case she rejected her._

 _"Sure," Lucy responded as she set down her pink lunch box. Just then, Jackal appeared at their side._

 _"Hey little girl," he sneered. "What do you have for lunch for me today?" The girl's eyes got wide as she looked up at him. Lucy could tell she was surprised. Lucy had to admit she was surprised too. Surely if she was with someone, Jackal would back off. It seemed Lucy was not imposing enough to stop him from taking is daily share of the girl's lunch. The girl looked down at her sandwich, and Lucy realized the girl had already eaten most of it, and Lucy could see from where she was sitting that the rest of her lunch box was empty._

 _"I….uh…I don't have any more lunch today. I'm so sorry!" The girl's eyes began to brim with tears and Lucy could tell she was starting to get scared about what Jackal might do. Jackal glared angrily at the two girls._

 _"What do you mean no more lunch? Why didn't you save any more me, stupid?" Lucy was getting mad. She knew Jackal was a bully, and had seen his behavior from afar, but seeing and hearing him up close, it was different. His words hurt, and Lucy could feel the girl trembling beside her. Before either one of the girls could do or say anything, he reached out and pushed the little girl off the bench and to the ground. As she fell, Lucy heard "rrriiipp"._

 _The girl's hands went to her face as Lucy looked down and saw what had happened. There was an enormous gash in the white lace of the dress from where it had caught a nail on the bench on her way down to the ground. Giant tears began to fall from the girl's eyes as she surveyed the damage._

 _"My…my dress. My… mom…my mom…made it," she sobbed. Lucy had heard and seen enough. Who was this boy to pick on such a petite girl, who clearly would never hurt a fly? Lucy shot up out of her seat and stood right beside Jackal._

 _"Hey! Stop! That's my friend, and her mom made that dress special for her!" Jackal looked down at her, clearly having a good foot of height over her._

 _"Boo-hoo. What are you going to do about it girly? You are almost just as small as she is." He laughed and started to walk away. Lucy's hands were balled into fists by her side. They were shaking with emotion. She knew she should just let Jackal walk away and help the little girl up, but hearing her sobbing was hurting her heart. Knowing this could happen again tomorrow was too much._

 _"I said, STOP!" Lucy took two giant steps and swung her foot out in Jackal's walking path. His ankle slammed into her foot and he fell face first onto the concrete. He looked up at Lucy, nose bloodied._

 _"I'm…I'm bleeding," he gasped reaching up and touching his nose._

 _"Maybe you'll think about that next time you try to pick on one of my friends. Her lunch is her lunch, not yours. Understand?" Lucy put her hands on her hips and gave him the nastiest glare she could possible make with her face. Jackal looked down at the blood on his hand, and then back to her and nodded._

 _"Great, I'm glad we understand each other," and she turned and skipped back to the little girl to help her off the ground._

 _"Wow, that was amazing. You're amazing," the girl gushed. Lucy shrugged it off. Secretly, she was glad Jackal had walked away. If he had come back to hit her, she would have been the one in trouble._

 _"It was time someone said something. The way he treats people is not ok. Hopefully, he's learned his lesson. I'm Lucy by the way." Lucy stuck out her hand to the girl like she had seen her father do to new clients at his office. The girl giggled and took her hand in her own._

 _"I'm Levy. It's nice to meet you."_

Lucy and Levy had been inseparable friends from that moment on. Their group had added and lost friends as they grew up and changed, but the one thing that didn't change was their friendship.

Lucy brought the ice cream into the kitchen and didn't even bother to reach for the cabinet with the bowls. Instead, she headed straight for the silverware drawer, getting out two large spoons.

"Ahh," Levy said in understanding. "That kind of night. Ok then, let's head up to my room with the essentials." By essentials, Levy meant all the pillows and blankets in the house. With a swing of her hip, Lucy shut the utensil drawer and followed Levy to collect all the blankets. It always amazed Lucy that they could fit anything else in Levy's room around her enormous book collection. Once the pillows surrounded them on the floor in Levy's room and a nice fluffy blanket surrounded Lucy's shoulders, they were ready to talk, and in Lucy's case, cry.

At first, Lucy knew she was crying angry tears. She was angry at Sting for being a low life, cheating man whore, but then her tears changed into sad ones. When she first recognized this feeling, Lucy was confused why she felt this way. She hated Sting, and knew she was better off without him, but the deep sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach got bigger. She remembered the feeling when String drove away from her a couple of hours ago and she realized she was missing what they had _before_. Before the nights of drinking, before the other girls, before the lying. Levy, surprisingly, did not say anything during the whole ordeal. She let Lucy cry until she had no more tears while rubbing her back and humming a soft tune. Lucy didn't even know she was doing it until she rubbed her red eyes and her gasps subsided.

"What are you singing?"

"Oh, it's just a song my mom used to sing to me when I was younger. It always made me feel better." Levy took her hand off Lucy's back and scooted over to face her.

"The ice cream is melting. You ready to down the rest of your sorrows with raspberry banana blast?" Lucy gave a playful groan.

"Oh, Levy, you have the _worst_ taste in ice cream!"

"Hey!" Just as Levy was about to give her rebuttal statement to defend her blue and yellow sugar monstrosity, the doorbell rang. Lucy looked at Levy suspiciously.

"Levy," Lucy said cocking her head to one side. "Who is that?" Levy looked shyly down at the pillow in her lap.

"It could be Erza…maybe. Probably. Most likely."

"And _why_ would Erza be here on our night in?" Lucy prodded.

"Maybe because I sorta, kinda, a tiny bit, invited her."

"Levy!"

"Lu, I'm sorry! She was the one that told me what was going on with you! If she hadn't of told me about the coffee shop, you know I would have had to interrogate you to find out something like that happened!" Lucy sighed. Levy had a point. She had been so embarrassed over everything. Admitting it out loud, even to her best friend, would have been rough for her, and it wasn't like Erza wasn't her friend. She could just be a bit intimidating.

"Fine. She can stay. Go get the door." Levy let out a squeal and ran downstairs to get the door. Lucy could her Erza receiving a similar welcome as she had. Tilting her head, she could hear another voice in the foyer as well. _Ugg_. She rolled her eyes. Ok, she was being mean now, and she knew it. Cana had apparently tagged along with Erza.

Cana wasn't a bad person. In fact, Lucy liked her. It was Cana's boyfriend Lucy had a problem with. It wasn't like he was a creep or anything, it was just Lucy was ninety-eight percent sure that even though she could never prove it, Bacchus was behind most of the alcohol and trouble that Sting had gotten into. Bacchus was one of Sting's best friends now, and having Cana there almost felt like having a spy in the house. Lucy tried to shake off the thought and be reasonable. Cana was her friend before Bacchus, and she would never betray her trust.

Cana and Erza had joined Levy and Lucy's group when they were halfway through sophomore year. Lucy had already been with Sting for eight months, and Cana was Lucy's lab partner in chemistry, while Erza had been partnered with Levy. One day, Cana had mentioned she had a crush on a boy on the swim team. This immediately peaked Lucy's interest, and she was ashamed to say that she had even thought Cana may have had set her sights on Sting. Instead of being defensive, Lucy carefully prodded Cana with coaxing questions until the brunette admitted she had feelings for Bacchus. Lucy had been so relieved that Cana was not interested in Sting. It wasn't like she didn't trust him around girls (at the time), but she didn't like the idea of someone else trying to take her place. Lucy had talked to Sting, who talked to Bacchus, who thought Cana was cute and wanted to ask her out as well. The rest was what was known as history.

Sting became friends with Bacchus so they could double, and Friday nights became date nights. Levy came too when she had the occasional date. Looking back, Lucy supposed technically it was her fault that Bacchus and Sting became friends. If she hadn't of gotten involved with Cana's love life, she would have never asked Sting to approach Bacchus about Cana. Then again, they were on the swim team together, so maybe they would have fallen into the same crowd no matter what, like magnets being attracted to each other, pieces of the universe being drawn together.

Lucy could hear the girls' voices getting louder on the stairs behind her. Levy pushed open the doors the rest of the way and smiled cheerfully at Lucy.

"Cana brought wine!" Although Lucy kept a smile on her face, she inwardly cringed. She obviously had had alcohol before, but after taking care of Sting so many nights, she had come to dislike the stuff. It made good people do strange (and sometimes cruel) things, and it made her head feel fuzzy. She didn't judge her friends who drank, they were adolescent teenagers after all, but through Sting, Lucy had seen the bad choices that could happen. She now only took a couple sips at parties to make it look like she was drinking along with everyone else.

There was also Ms. Supetto to think about. It had all started when Lucy was caught with a beer under her bed at home…

 _The housekeeper had found it. Lucy secretly wished her father had found it instead because her punishment probably would have been a lot less severe. Ms. Supetto had gone on and on about the dangers of drinking. She even threatened Lucy that she would make her watch an educational video! All over one beer! Just as Lucy was about to drown out the sound of Ms. Supetto's voice, she reminded herself that Ms. Supetto loved her and was like her surrogate mother. Lucy sighed. She was lecturing her because she loved her, because she wanted her to grow up right. The least she could do was pretend to listen._

 _"When I was a girl…" Ms. Supetto started while rubbing her hands on a dishtowel. Lucy took another dish from Ms. Supetto's hands. They were washing dishes together as Ms. Supetto lectured Lucy. It was part of her punishment (along with being grounded for an indefinite amount of time), but Lucy didn't tell her that she found washing the dishes to be relaxing. There was nothing else to think about when washing dishes. Dunk, wash, rinse, dry, repeat. It was mind numbing, and Lucy loved it. It also meant she wouldn't run into her father. He was never in the kitchen, that was, if he was home at all. What she didn't love was the sound of Ms. Supetto's shrill voice dragging on about statistics and the proper development of teenage minds._

 _Lucy let out another sigh. They were almost done with the dishes, and Lucy had been done with this conversation long ago. Ms. Supetto stopped drying and looked at Lucy, a mix of fear and love wavering in her eyes._

 _"I just want you to make better choices, ok Lucy?" Lucy looked at the older woman and realized just how old Ms. Supetto had gotten. She had smile lines now on her forehead and around her mouth. Her hair had grayed and there were speckles on white peeking through. Lucy also noticed, with an inward grimace, that Ms. Supetto had far more worry lines gracing her face than the last time she had looked. Lucy sighed once again, but this time in resignation._

 _"I understand, Ms. Supetto. It won't happen again. I didn't mean to make you worry." After a hug, the housekeeper had let the subject drop, and Lucy had never brought alcohol into the house again._

Since her mother had died when she was younger, Ms. Supetto was the only mother she had known. She could remember small details about her mother: her smell, her arms around her. Sometimes she dreamed about her lovely smile. Lucy also remembered her father's laugh from back then as well, though that particular memory was fading with each passing day. Her father had not laughed, seriously laughed from joy, since her mother's death.

The small pop of the cork from the wine bottle brought Lucy back to the present. Cana had opened the wine and was pouring it into plastic cups. Cana and Levy each took one, and Lucy took her cup and held it in her hands. She might take a few sips, but she knew most of it was going down the sink by the end of the night. Erza's hands remained empty, as she had passed on the invitation.

Erza was a serious girl, but it was one of the reasons why Lucy loved her so much. Deep down, Erza's seriousness was brought on by a motherly instinct to protect her friends. Lucy also knew Erza had serious future goals. She had been on several of the girls' sports teams, hoping one of them would bring her a scholarship. Erza trained everyday, and Lucy couldn't help but be a little envious of her drive and determination. Oh, Lucy had goals all right, but Erza's dedication and passion took things to a whole new level. In the end, all her work paid off as she was going to a university inland on a full ride.

"So, Sting is out of the picture, huh?" Cana asked, downing the last of her cup. Lucy nodded without saying anything.

"Cana," Erza reprimanded. "Lucy may not want to talk about that topic right now. As I recall, we are here to be supportive and cheer her up." Lucy smiled at Erza. There she was. Her friend and protector. Lucy knew Erza would go and kick the crap out of Sting if she let her, but Lucy also knew that if Erza got in that kind of trouble, it could ruin her scholarship. She wasn't about to put Erza in that position.

"It's ok, Erza. Levy all ready listened to me cry it out. Sting is gone, and now I'm free to start my first year of college with a fresh slate." Lucy said the words in an upbeat way, not letting her fear come through her words. Yes, Lucy longed for freedom, but moving away for college meant leaving everything she grew up with behind. Yes, that did mean her father, but that also meant everything else she grew up with as well. She had applied to several schools, near and far, but it had come down to two real choices for Lucy. Her dream college was in the next state over; it was the same college her favorite author had attended. She had been in awe when she read on the website that Kemu Zaleon was teaching creative writing at that university. It immediately became her dream to go there and study under him.

Her second option was the college in the next town over. It wasn't a big college, but it was an accredited business school. Her father had been planning for her to attend there her whole life. It wasn't her dream, but it was close to all the things she knew. Because of her studious nature and good grades, Lucy had naturally been accepted into both schools, but she had kept the letters in her desk, away from her father and Ms. Supetto's prying eyes. Any involved parent would have realized the letters should have come by now, but her father was too busy with his overseas clients, and Ms. Supetto was too sweet to ask. In this way, Lucy was lucky. She could put off having to make her life altering decision for just a little bit longer.

"I guess we'll all be going to college boyfriend-less," Levy groaned. Lucy looked at her friend, confused.

"Cana is still with Bacchus." Cana threw her light brown hair back over her shoulder and laughed at Lucy's comment.

"Please, as soon as I heard you and Sting were over, I broke up with his sorry ass. The only reason I stayed with him was keep an eye on you when you were with Sting. I had a feeling he was in a downward spiral, and I was going to make damn sure he didn't take your pretty ass down with him." Cana picked the bottle back up and filled her cup again. Lucy felt the tears prickle behind her eyes, but refused to let them fall because then her friends would think they upset her. Cana was her friend, worried about her all along. She now felt guilty about all the blame she had put on Cana for her own misery. Her friends could see the path her relationship was headed, why couldn't she?

"Thanks, Cana, that means a lot to me." Cana just shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever. Boys are trouble anyways."

"Oh, Lucy, speaking of trouble, I heard you ran into some troublemakers down by the pier today. Is everything ok?" Erza's concerned eyes turned back to Lucy.

"How did you hear that?" Lucy thought she knew the answer, but she waited for Erza's response anyway.

"Mira," the redhead simply replied. Of course. Somehow Mirajane always knew what was going on in Magnolia. She was another graduated student of Fairy Tail High, but somehow she was omnificent when it came to gossip. Lucy didn't know if she had some sort of teleportation powers, or spies everywhere. She suspected the latter, but it honestly wouldn't have surprised her if Mira could fly.

"It was nothing. Two boys where just fighting and cussing loudly near the pier. You know it is a family place, so I broke it up. No big deal." Lucy thought back to Gray and Natsu arguing with each other. They really were stupid. _But also good-looking,_ a voice chimed in her head. She quickly pushed that thought as far back as it would go.

"Are they the same two boys I saw moving in the other day next to your house, Lucy?" Levy asked. Lucy whipped her head away from Erza, shocked at Levy's words.

"Ah, yes, the dark haired boy and the pink haired boy. I wonder why his hair is pink?" Erza mused the last part to herself.

"You both knew I had new neighbors?" Did everyone know except her?

"Sorry, Lu. I meant to ask you about it sooner. You had gone shopping in Crocus since your dad was coming home, and then everything happened with Sting last night and this morning. That just seemed more important." Lucy nodded in understanding. Levy wasn't wrong. In the scheme of things, new neighbors were nothing compared to a broken heart.

"Were they hot?" Cana slurred. Lucy looked over at the bottle to find it nearly empty. When did that happen?

Lucy didn't answer right away. If she answered too quickly, she would look defensive and the girls would know she thought the boys were good looking. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years this morning. She was not a floozy. Apparently, Lucy waited a beat too long, and all three girls pounced on the extra second on silence.

"We'll take that as a yes," Levy coyly smiled.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "It wasn't like that. They weren't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but you should have seen them! They were acting like they were middle schoolers in a brawl. Really, who acts like that on a public beach?" Levy, Cana, and Erza all glanced at each other and let the subject drop. They talked about upcoming summer events in Magnolia, and other, more pleasant, things. It wasn't too much longer before Lucy realized how late it was. Cana was already asleep among the massive amounts of pillows and blankets around Levy's room, and she noticed Erza had started to add less and less to the conversation as she hard started to doze off. Levy was still wide-awake due to the large amounts of sugar in her ice cream. As for herself, Lucy felt her body begin to catch up with all the stress of the day. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Her tank top rose up above her belly button, but she didn't worry about pulling it back down. She was with her girlfriends.

"Hey, Lev. I've got to head on home. I'll text you when I get there, and we'll talk in the morning, ok?" Levy's round eyes looked up at her, questioningly.

"Are you sure? You can always stay the night here." She giggled. "Apparently, Cana and Erza are." Lucy looked over at Erza and saw the redhead had given into her drowsiness. She had probably worked herself to the bone at training today.

Lucy shrugged. "Nah, it's a short walk. I'll see you later, Lev." With a smile and a small wave, Lucy made her way downstairs and out the front door quietly. Levy's parents were probably home by now, and she didn't want to wake them.

The night air greeted her as she stepped out into the empty sidewalk. It was cooler than it had been before. Some of the heat had dissipated as the breeze from the ocean took over. Lucy ran her hands over her arms, not due to the temperature, but because she realized just how quiet it was. No cars moved up and down the road, and people no longer sat out on their porches enjoying the breeze and the stars. Putting her arms around her made her feel a little bit safer. Lucy looked up at the stars, and wondered if her mother was among them. Was she watching over her? What would she think of her daughter now? Would she agree with the choices she was making? Lucy stopped her train of thought there. It would only bring her pain to try and answer those questions. As tempted as she was to keep looking at the stars, she leveled her gaze to look around her. It was late, and she knew she had to be aware of her surroundings. A small, sleepy town did not equal no crime.

Thankfully, she made it home with out incident. It wasn't until she closed and locked the door behind her that she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Apparently her run in with Sting had affected her more than she thought.

Lucy made her way quietly up the stairs to her room. Ms. Supetto had long gone home for the day, and she doubted her father even realized she wasn't home. She hopped over the third, squeaky stair like a pro, just in case. After kicking off her sandals and shooting a short, goodnight text to Levy, she flopped down on her soft bed. She contemplated taking a quick shower to rinse the cool layer of sweat off her skin that had formed on her walk home but decided against it. It wasn't worth potentially waking her father if he had noticed she was gone. Lucy shimmed out of her shorts and opted to sleep in just her tank top. She was far too tired to do anything else, and once she landed on her bed, she knew she was not getting up again. She rolled over and switched off the lamp beside her bed, not even bothering to glance towards her window.

Lucy had always made sure the curtains were drawn so no one could see in. She knew she was on the second story, but her window did face the house next door. Not wanting to take all the natural light from her room, she always left it open just a crack so she could still tell what time of day it was depending on the light from the sun, but it made sure no one could peak in. If she had looked over, she would have noticed she was not the only one awake at this hour. She would have noticed the small sliver of yellow light coming through her curtains, coming from the house next door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Ok, I'm back! I'm working really hard on not rushing the story, so if it is too fast or too slow for you, please bear with me! I also think I will be able to update every few days or at least each week. I do have an endgame in mind for this story! I had a couple of different visions about how this meeting would turn out, but this is what came out on paper. I hope you like it!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

 **Chapter 5**

Lucy awoke to the sun streaming through her window and hitting her face. The sunlight warmed her skin, but blinded her sleepy eyes as she cracked them open slowly. She brought a hand up to cover them as she took in the morning light around her. She yawned and stretched, letting the covers fall down to her waist as she sat up. As she began to rub the sleepiness from her vision, she realized something seemed off. Her eyes opened wide as she saw that the sunlight was coming through her window. Through her _open_ window. The drapes were swaying as the wind came whistling through the open gap. She never left her window open. She swung her head to the left and to the right and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Nothing was out of place; her shorts were still crumpled on the floor beside her bed, her flip-flops were strewed across the room from where she had flung them the night before. Even her laptop sat across the room from her on her desk, and one quick glance let her know her cell phone was still plugged in on her nightstand. Nothing seemed amiss or missing. Then why was the window open?

After taking another look around the room, she carefully rose from her bed and walked to the door on the balls of her feet to avoid making any unnecessary sounds. Cracking it open gently, she could hear Ms. Supetto rattling downstairs in the kitchen. She was most likely making breakfast. She let out a sigh of relief. Clearly, no one else was in the house that wasn't supposed to be. Perhaps Ms. Supetto had opened her window to let in the ocean breeze. It _was_ a beautiful day outside. Lucy walked over to the window and began to lower it. Just as she felt the window begin to slide beneath her fingers, she saw she could see over into the neighboring house.

There were boxes stacked up in every corner of the room, and the bed was unmade. Looking closer, Lucy could just make out a red comforter that had been thrown to the floor. Clothes, ( _Clean or dirty_? Lucy vaguely wondered) littered every clear inch of the carpeted floor. Obviously, it was a teenage boy's room. Her hands stilled as she recognized what she was seeing must be either Gray or Natsu's room. They hadn't bothered to close their drapes, though from Lucy's angle, she couldn't tell if there were any on the window or not. They _had_ just moved in. Judging by the state of the room, the occupant had not had time to unpack yet, much less think about decorating. Those boys were a mess. Thinking back to their argument on the beach, Lucy decided she should probably give them the benefit of the doubt. They were brothers after all, and brothers argue, right? They did so loudly, but Lucy supposed their behavior wasn't _too_ far out of the norm. She and most of her friends were the only child of their households, so it wasn't like she had a lot of personal experience observing sibling rivalry.

Noticing again how nice the morning was, she decided to keep the window open for now. Ok, that was taken care of. Now, on to the next thing on her agenda for the day: deciding on what to wear and calling Levy to see what they could do or where they would hang out. Maybe they would also call up Erza or Cana since they had so much fun together last night. Lucy had to admit, it was good to hang out with her girlfriends again. She had spent so much time looking after and running after Sting, she had forgotten what it was like to hang out and enjoy her real friends. She flung open her closet, and she heard her bedroom door open to her left. She glanced over her shoulder to address Ms. Supetto.

"Do you know where my blue skirt is, Ms. Supetto? I know I put it in with the wash last week." Lucy's question was met with silence, and she slightly closed the closet door so she could look over and see Ms. Supetto's face.

Only, it wasn't Ms. Supetto's face she was looking into. The first thing that caught her attention was the pink hair that contrasted brightly against the red t-shirt and black basketball shorts. She lowered her gaze to dark eyes, widened in surprise. In his mouth, he held a piece of buttered toast, and in his hand, a glass of what Lucy assumed was orange juice. His whole body had stilled as soon as he had seen Lucy, and his arms and legs where locked in a walking position, making him look like a living statue.

So many thoughts were going through Lucy's brain at that second. _What was he doing in her bedroom? How did he get here? Where was Ms. Supetto? Was he eating her food? Why did he look so good first thing the morning?_ Quickly ignoring her last question, Lucy went with the first question she thought of and let him have it.

"WHAT ARE _YOU_ DOING IN MY ROOM?" Natsu cringed at her question, and the toast fell limply from his mouth as he opened it to answer her justifiably angry question. At the exact same moment Natsu took a breath in response to her question, another, higher, voice was heard above anything else.

"NATSU! NATSU! Where are you? I know you know what you did was wrong!" Natsu's eyes went from wide and surprised to shocked and horrified in an instant. He turned his face from Lucy's and looked back over at the window. Lucy looked with him and saw a middle aged woman with light red hair standing in the middle of Natsu's room. The tall woman had not looked over to the window yet; she was currently checking the closet to see if Natsu was in there. Without even bothering to look back at Lucy, Natsu thrust the glass of juice into her hands and dove beside her bed. He landed with a resounding _thud_.

"Natsu, I know you are hiding, and it won't work this time. You cannot try to shave your brother's eyebrows while he is sleeping and think there will be no consequences!" The woman's voice was even angrier this time, if that was even at all possible.

Lucy looked down at Natsu's cowering form on the floor. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together in her mind. _The open window, the yelling woman, Natsu behind the bed where she couldn't see him._ Natsu was _hiding_ from what Lucy supposed was _his mother_. In _her_ bedroom. She looked back out the window at the frustrated mother. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It was becoming very clear that these two boys, Natsu in particular, were a handful. Just as Lucy was about to walk to the window and call out to the woman, Natsu's hand grabbed her ankle.

"Please," he whispered. Lucy wanted to laugh he looked so pathetic, shaking as he heard his mother's shrill voice call his name again. "She's going to lecture me until I'm forty. It was just a joke. I wasn't really going to do it! At least I don't think I was...Please have mercy!" Lucy glared down at him, amusement gone as she reassessed the situation.

"Why should I? You broke into _my_ room, stole _my_ food, and are now hiding behind _my_ bed!" She did lower her voice to a whisper, abet it was an angry growl of a whisper.

"It was the only place safe to go. She knows all my regular hiding places. Your window was unlocked by the way, really unsafe. I could have been anybody." He sheepishly grinned up at her. In return, Lucy was about to blow.

"Are you seriously lecturing me right now when you are the one, _on hands and knees_ , begging for my help? Is that really the way you want to go?" Natsu seemed to realize the predicament he was in and slowly shook his head.

"Look," he whispered hurriedly, as though Lucy might betray his location and any second, "don't tell her and I promise we will figure out something else. Somehow for me to repay you. Just...please, I just moved here. I don't want to take the risk of her taking away all my privileges over a stupid prank. Once she calms down, everything will be ok. I just can't talk to her when she is this angry." Lucy looked carefully at his face. His voice had been sincere, and his eyes were earnest. She remembered how angry her father had been the last time she had missed curfew. He had berated her for what seemed like hours. It hadn't even been her fault. Well, maybe a little. She was the one who decided she and Sting should take a midnight walk on the beach after the party that night, but Sting had been distant, and she had been desperate to reconnect with him. At least now she knew why his behavior was so out of place. She wondered if he had been cheating on her by that point in time.

Looking back down at Natsu, she also wondered if her father had had the chance to calm down before they "talked", maybe their argument wouldn't have ended with the two of them not speaking for a month. Lucy sighed. She was giving in. Of course she was. She was Lucy, the girl with hardened exterior, but a teddy bear on the inside. She just wished she didn't have to show Natsu her nice side yet. He was so incredibly in the wrong here.

"Fine, but you _will_ make this up to me." She took two large strides over to the window and pulled it down, effectively shutting it with a small rattle. She latched the lock on top and pulled the drapes completely shut so Natsu's mother could no longer see in if she was looking. She heard Natsu give an audible sigh of relief. He stood up and brushed off his clothes.

 _That must be invisible dirt,_ Lucy thought to herself. Her room was always impeccably clean, and not just because of Ms. Supetto. Ms. Supetto had decided when Lucy was thirteen she needed to learn more responsibility, as well as have a little more privacy, so she put Lucy in charge of cleaning and maintaining her own room. Ms. Supetto still helped her with her laundry, but other than that, Lucy's room was hers to do with as she pleased. Up to a certain extent. She still had her father to please, if that was even humanly possible.

"Thanks, Lucy. I definitely owe you one." Lucy was about to give him a witty response when she realized something. She had never given him her name. She hastily thought back to their first encounter on the beach and whizzed through the conversation in her mind. Nope. He had given her his name, but she had not given hers in return.

"How the hell do you know my name?" She immediately went on the defensive and took a step back as Natsu took one towards her. He held up his hands like a zookeeper would approach a bear or a lion.

"Whoa, take it easy. I read it." He pointed a finger towards her still open bedroom door. On the front of the white six-panel door there was a small nail, on which hung a hand-embroidered sign. It had Lucy's full name, as well as her birthdate and her birth weight sewn in along with hearts and lace. Lucy blushed. It was extremely girly, and looked like it belonged on the door to a nursery, but Lucy's mother's hands had been the one to sew it. Ms. Supetto told of how Lucy's mother would sit in a rocking chair, humming as she sewed while Lucy slept soundly in her crib. The image that Lucy pictured in her mind was so peaceful and comforting that she kept the sign hung on her door, no matter how old she got. She knew it would be one of the items packed to go with her when she left for college in the fall.

"Ok, then. You are not completely a creep. Still, sneaking into my room was completely uncalled for. How did you even know this room was mine? You could have been sneaking into my father's room. What would have happened then, huh?" Lucy could envision the police lights and her father's yelling. _If he was even still home to know someone was breaking in._

Natsu just shrugged. "I saw you get home last night, and then the light went on in this room. It wasn't hard to figure out it was your room. Once I hopped the ledge and shimmed the window open…" he looked away from her and scratched the back of his head at this point in his story. "I saw you still sleeping and decided it would be too weird to stay all stalker like in your room, so I went downstairs for some breakfast. There was toast and a note that said someone had gone to the grocery store. I couldn't let the food get cold!" Natsu defended himself. That answered Lucy's question about the toast and juice as well as where Ms. Supetto had gone so early in the morning. That also explained why Natsu was walking back into her room. He had probably thought he had escaped long enough from his mother and could sneak back over into his room without anyone ever knowing. Busted. She set the half-full juice glass on her desk and looked down at the toast and crumbs that were covering her pristine white carpet. She crossed her arms at the sight. Instead of getting angry, she tilted her head to the side while she contemplated the situation. Deciding her next move, Lucy's mouth formed a sly grin.

"I just figured out how you are going to make this up to me." Natsu followed her gaze to the mess on the floor.

"Aww man! Are you gonna make me clean? I don't even clean my own room. Come on, Luce!" Wow, his whining was like a seven year old. Lucy shook her head.

"Nope, you are taking me out to breakfast. I wouldn't trust you to clean my room properly anyway. Do you even know what a vacuum cleaner is?" Natsu answered her question when he stared at her blankly.

"Right, I thought so. Ok, so breakfast it is. Do you know where 8 Island is? They have the best pancakes." Natsu shook his head, but he was now smiling.

"It's not too far of a walk, and if we leave right now we can just make it in time to beat the tourist crowd." Lucy began to walk towards her door, but Natsu was making no move to follow her. Was he still afraid of his mother seeing him?

"Natsu?" His face had suddenly turned as pink as his hair. She was going to have to ask him about that hair color later, but right now she was curious as to his blush.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds great, Lucy, but uhhh…you may want to put on some different clothes."

The world moved in slow motion as Lucy looked down at her attire. She was still wearing her purple tank top from the night before, and she remembered scooting out of her shorts and leaving them on the floor the night before. She was in nothing but a small shirt and her underwear, in front of Natsu, her new neighbor, a boy. Would her nightmares never end this summer? She felt her neck get hot first, and then her cheeks, and then she felt the heat all the way up to her hairline. Natsu stood there chuckling uncomfortably as all this happened, directing his eyes to something unknown above and behind her. It took every single once of self control for Lucy to grit her teeth and not yell out at the top of her lungs.

"Get out," she hissed. Natsu, still uncomfortably chuckling, sidestepped his way past Lucy and into the hall. Lucy slammed her door behind him as fast as she could. From the other side of the door she heard a small, "Eeep!" and got some satisfaction knowing she had hit him with the door on his way out.

 _Serves him right,_ she thought grimly. She turned back to her closet, just as she had done before Natsu's shocking appearance. Now, what to wear to a breakfast with a boy who broke into her house, made a mess of her room, and asked her to lie for him by omission? Ugg! Where _was_ her blue skirt?


End file.
